e-commerce

If eBay's 50 percent growth this last fiscal quarter is any indication, online auctions are still a favorite way to shuffle goods and pocket extra change. Power sellers--those eBay auctioneers who sell and gross high volumes--have gained the edge by applying their business savvy and possibly using one of the many auction software options from CNET Download.com. One popular program is AlienFiles, a listings creator and editor that supports multimedia files and helps manage your sale items.

There's plenty here for power buyers, too. Check out eBay Auction Sniper and AutoSearch, for instance, which automatically bids on … Read more

Guiding consumers to products that they actually buy is supposed to be the Web's specialty. Then how come e-commerce growth is slowing down?

In the morning session at Under the Radar on Thursday, four companies explained why their technology would appeal to e-tailers.

The big crowd pleaser was PowerReviews.com, headquartered in Millbrae, Calif. The company aggregates and manages customer reviews. What makes the 26-employee company different, according to CEO Andy Chen, is that it's concentrating on products not typically reviewed on the Web, such as sporting goods, shoes, and backpacks.

"Online stores that want reviews can … Read more

The legality of a Maine state law designed to prevent minors from buying cigarettes online is slated to get another look from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Right now, the 2003 law is on ice, after successful legal challenges from trade associations representing air and motor carriers in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. But the high court agreed on Monday to accept a petition from Maine State Attorney General G. Steven Rowe to review the earlier decisions.

Federal district and appeals courts in recent years have largely agreed that the state law conflicts with a federal law known as the … Read more

A Massachusetts Democrat said Tuesday that he plans to revive an earlier effort to force broader sales tax collection by Internet retailers.

At a hearing focused on what to do about a soon-to-expire ban on Internet access taxes, Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) said he remains concerned that states are being deprived of billions of dollars in would-be sales tax revenue because of the massive growth of e-commerce over the years.

"I will be filing legislation come July that hopefully will deal with the issue," he said.

At the moment, if you order something from a company that's … Read more

At least $17 million was wasted by Uncle Sam last year on federal employees who intentionally collected excess public transit benefits--at times, only to turn around and pawn them off illegally on eBay and Craigslist.

A new Government Accountability Office report (PDF) documented numerous instances in which employees at nine agencies in the Washington area admitted to falsifying their applications to receive extra benefits, continued receiving the passes even during extended absences, and earned thousands of dollars selling the wares online.

Established in 2000, the government's transit program requires that federal agencies in the Washington area offer their permanent … Read more

I'd initially been skeptical about BuyYourFriendADrink.com (BYFAD), the Web site that just opened today (see previous coverage) in which you can remotely order drinks for your friends that they can redeem at participating bars by showing the bartender a code in a text message. It's available at about 40 bars in New York City and the surrounding area, and the company plans to gradually expand to other urban areas over the course of the year.

I'd been pretty confident that the site itself would work, but I hadn't been entirely positive that the bars involved … Read more

How many times have you been IMing with a friend or co-worker across the country, placed a bet ("If that Sanjaya guy gets the boot tonight, you owe me a beer!"), completed said bet, but had no immediate way to fulfill it because the other person involved was miles away? Well, now there's a brand-new solution--but just for New Yorkers, for the time being.

BuyYourFriendADrink.com was launched today and announced on the New York edition of e-mail events service Thrillist. BuyYourFriendADrink, or BYFAD, is a way to purchase libations for your friends online, which they can … Read more

Price Protectr is a service that monitors online stores and alerts you to any changes in price within 30 days of buying a product. If it sounds simple it is, and frankly that's the way it should be.

Nobody likes finding out they could have saved money if they had paid attention to price drops, but it's easier said than done. Price Protectr does the work for you. All you have to do is give them the URL of the product you bought and your e-mail, and it will keep an eye on it for 30 days. If … Read more

Are you stuck trying to find the perfect gift this year? If you have $6.8 million U.S. there's a 217-acre island in Poland waiting.

Szercki Ostrow, in the middle of Sniardy Lake (right near Czarci!), is up for sale on Private Islands Online, which specializes in, you guessed it, selling islands.

Naturally, a lot of the islands up for sale are in sunnier climes. Garip Island in Turkey sells for $20 mil, and it is only 88 acres. There's one in Greece for 1.5 million Euros, but it's only 2.5 acres. That won'… Read more